Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to the field of multimedia receivers, and in particular, to the coordination of remote monitoring data with an interactive response system.
Description of the Related Art
Entertainment media providers such as cable TV companies and satellite companies spend a significant portion of their operational budgets on installation of subscriber equipment and customer service calls pertaining to such equipment. The subscriber equipment typically includes coaxial cable or a roof-mounted parabolic antenna, one or more receivers such as a set top box (STB), a digital video recorder (DVR), which may be external or internal to the STB, and remote control devices that viewers use to communicate with their STBs.
In response to a real or perceived equipment failure or an operational anomaly, a customer may contact the media provider customer service department, by telephone or e-mail. When a customer service call is received at the media provider, the call is initially handled by a computerized interactive voice response (IVR) system. The IVR system prompts the user for identification information and attempts to determine the reason for the call. Once the reason for the call is known, it is determined whether the call can be resolved automatically through the IVR system or whether the call must be routed to a human customer service representative (CSR) for resolution. There is a significant cost saving to the media provider if customer service calls are resolved by the automated IVR system without involving the human CSR. Reducing CSR labor costs by handing service calls within the IVR system is understood by media service providers to be one of the best ways to increase profitability.
By collecting statistics on the nature of customer service calls, media providers can evaluate where to focus their efforts to increase the IVR system's capability to automatically handle service calls. For example, historical records among media providers show that many of the service calls are due to STB remote control devices having insufficient battery power. Another common problem for satellite subscribers in particular is decreased signal strength due to inclement weather, for example, snow accumulating on the satellite receiving antenna, or signal interference from wind or heavy precipitation.